I think, especially when you're in college, each book that you're reading tends to tell you who you are.

We knew that Cecilia had killed herself because she was a misfit, because the beyond called to her, and we knew that her sisters, once abandoned, felt her calling from that place, too.

I was unemployable when I got out of college.

You went out with a girl at first because the sheer sight of her made you weak in the knees. You fell in love and were desperate not to let her get away. And yet the more you thought about her, the less you knew who she was. The hope was that love transcended all differences. That was the hope.

our job was merely to create the noise that seemed to fascinate them.

Capitalism has resulted in material well-being but spiritual bankruptcy.

But, like anyone in love, Madeleine believed that her own relationship was different from every other relationship, immune from typical problems.